Ink pads



March 4, 1958 T. ROMMEL EFAL INK PADS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 31, 1955 I u l n u a INVENTORS E DOIZ EOMMEL.

3 KAQLHENZ BEHNKE ATTORNEYS March 4, 1958 V T. ROMMEL' ET-AL ,2

INK PADS Filed May 31, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 s F1Q 6' I INVENTORS THE ooonz QQMMEL KARLHEJNZ. BEHNKE.

ATTORNEY5 March 4,1958 T. ROMMEL ETAL 2,825,298

INK PADS 7 Filed May 31, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS THEooaR Qomma-l KARL smz BEHNKE. BY 612222 25222 ATTORNEYS States Patent 2,825,298 INK PADS Theodor Rommel and Karlheinz Behnke, Hannover, Germany, assignors to Gunther Wagner, Hannover, Germany, a firm Application May 31, 1955, Serial No. 512,042

. Claims priority, application Germany June 2, 1954 2 Claims. (Cl. 118-264) The invention relates to an ink pad and is characterized in that .it consists of a bottom drawn metal part, a holder frame of plastic or similar material placed on the bottom part and a drawn sheet metal lid.

Various constructions of ink pads are known but, in

spite of all endeavours, have not hitherto produced an article which gives satisfaction from a manufacturing, economical, practical and aesthetic point of view, as any improvement in one respect is counteracted by disad-- vantages in other respects. In the most common type of ink pad on the market with top and bottom parts made of sheet metal, the main objection is that the sharp, open corners aredangerous, unsightly and do not close tightly. To prevent corrosion the pad itself must be placed in a trough or dish of oil paper, but even this does not produce a perfectly tight seal at the corners. But also from the point of view of manufacture and economy these ink pads have serious disadvantages as their production requires numerous operations which results in a disproportionately high priced pad. Therefore these ink pads must be regarded as unsatisfactory fromall four points of view.

Consequently there has been a partial change over to the use of plastic material for making the boxes, thereby overcoming all objections except that of economy. As the cost of these plastic materials is almost twice that of sheet iron, the price of these ink pads is .so high that they can only come into question for private use but not for general use. All attempts to overcome the disadvantages of sheet metal boXes without having to put: up with the high price for plastic boxes can be con sidered as a failure, for it has not been possible to eliminate all the objections.

siderable difficulty'at the corners because the material t hand itcovers the sharp edge and on the other hand it It has now been found that by the means proposed by I I the invention, it is possible to avoid all the objections of the ink pads hitherto known in a simple manner without having to put up with any other objections. By

using drawn lids and bottom parts it has first become possible to produce both parts with closed rounded corners and also with rounded edges much more simply from a manufacturing point of view. However, not only this advantage is attained, but at the same time the economical question is substantially solved and moreover the practical problem is basicly improved by closing the corners. In addition the appearance of the ink pad is more attractive and better adapted to modern taste so that this also represents a considerable enhancement of its staple use.

The result is that by these features alone all four of' the objections mentioned at the outset can be considered aseliminated.

The employment of the plastic holder frame attains its object without, however, introducing any of the other objections. In the case of the drawn bottom part a sharp upper edge is produced which must be done away 1 with by some means or other, which normally could only be by beading. This operation, however, presents con defines the useful inking surface, because it will only be made of such a width that the inking surface lies above thelevel partof thebott'om surface of thebottom part. a Another advantage of the plastic frame is that the cloth cover of the inking pad can be easily fixed.

Hitherto the cloth cover was either wrapped round the 7 support and firmly stuck on the under side thereof or firmlytheld with the'aid of a clip or snap ring. This can nowbe attained by applying to the underside of the framebefore'it is placed on the bottom part, a;

substance which dissolves the upper surface of the plastic frame, which substance, when the frame has been fitted, is in intimate contact with the cloth cover and binds this tightly on. the frame as soon as the solvent has evaporated. Another simple means of fiXing the ink carrier with the aid of theholder frame is to place the ink carrier on a blockof cardboard,'wood or the like, interposing a thermoplastic foil between the frame and the carrier the edge zones of the fabric coverof the ink carrierare then. rigidly. connected to the border zones of the foil; and the supporting block by the application of heat,"

utilizing the thermoplastic properties ofthe foil.

'The supporting block in this case is preferably of. such a height that, after the holder frame has been pressed into position, the lower inner edge thereof presses the boundary zone.of the fabricvcover.fi1'mly. secured to the thermoplastic foil, onto the supporting.block.-

Thus the supporting block is at the same time pressed against the sheet metal bottompart so that, with the aid of the holder frame, the whole inserted aggregate is held in the sheet metal bottom part andsecured against falling out.

So as to ensure against every possibility imaginableof ink penetrating into the bottom part, theflthermoplastic foil can be made so much larger than the base surface of the'ink p'adxthat, when. the assembled ink carrier is inserted in tothe bottom part, it bends upwards on the walls thereof, so that'the fabric cover, which'i is at the most the same size as the foil, does not come into contact with the wall of the bottom part. 'The. foil'. and fabric cover form as it were a trough 'or dish located in the bottom part which, even if the ink should ooze;

into, the dish, positively prevents it from, passing into the bottom part. When it is stated above that the'fabric cover should be atthe most the same size as the foil,

this means that the cloth cover is normally smaller than:

the foil. g H

Instead of placing the ink carrier provided with its. fabric cover on to a; block of cardboard,'wood or the like with an interposed foil of thermoplastic material, the ink carrier can also be placed on the block of cardboard, wood or the like without interposing any insulating material? and the block placed on-a'thermoplasticfoil.- Just as in thecase wl ierethethermoplastic foil is introduced betweenr'r the ink carrier and the block,-the boundary zones'ofthe"? fabric cover of the ink carrier are firmly connectedlwiththe boundary zones of the thermoplastic foil by the. applied cation of heat, utilizing.the thermoplastic properties of? thevfoilso that a complete aggregate is produced which:

Patented Mar. 4, 1958 I can be inserted as awholein the ink pad case. Similarly, the fabric cover and the foil can be so large that the interconnected boundary zones form a holding or retaining border or frame extending over the ink .pad surface.

This does not, however, exhaust the advantages of the plastic frame. ,1 J M When making ink pads of different colors it was hitherto necessary to mark the box by suitable printing... This also necessitated a separate operation and keeping'a relatively large stock of semi-finished products. The plastic frame also does away with this objection because, instead of making the boxes indifferent colors, it is only now necessary to keep in stock different colored plastic frames, the appropriate coloring being incorporated in the plastic mass. The color of the frame shows the user the color of the ink pads All sheet metal parts and the printing thereon can be 'in some neutral color. The fact that corenemas rosion phenomena" are eliminated by the :-plastic frame need not befurther emphasized; I t

The lid can be mounted on the holding frame, for example, by means of eyes or rolls provided on the frame, hinge rolls formed on the lid and a hinge pin threaded through these rolls. the sheet metal bottom part, in which case this would be provided withhinge lugs extending through slots in the holder frame, which lugs, after the holder frame has been placed onthe bottom part, are bent over to form.

hinge rolls and in conjunction with the known hinge rolls on the lid and the hinge pin, form' the hinge joint.

for the lid.

The holder frame can be fixed on the bottom .part 'in a-simple manner in that the frame, whichis of U-shaped sectionon its under side, is slipped over the edge ofthe bottompart with the inner side of the outer U-arm fitting tightly against the? outer side of the bottom part. If it.

is'desired to fix more firmly, resilient lugs can be bent inwards on one or several sides of the bottom part so that, when the holder frame is placed on the bottom part, these lugs resiliently engage the U-section "on the underside of theholde'r frame and hold this tightly on the bottom part.

In brief, therefore, an ink pad is produced according to the invention which represents a considerable improvement as compared with the known ink pads from the points of view of production, economy, practicability and appearance.

Se'veral embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows an ink pad in front elevation;

Fig. 2'is a top plan view of Fig. 1; V

Fig. 3 shows on an enlarged scale an ink pas-may in "elevation and part-1y 'in sectionon line III-=11! or Fig. 2';

Fig- 4 is a' top plan view of a speciai'c'onstruction-of tli'eholde'r or retainer frame;

Fig.6 is asimilar s'e'ctionalvi'ew to Fig. 3, showin'g the rear portion of the pad on an enlarged scale; I

Fig. 6 is a section taken on line VL-VI of Fig. f -a for'm of construction such-as that illustrated in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7' is a similar sectional view to Fig. 3 showing a modifiedform of construction, and

Figs. 8 and 9 are sections: showing forms of construction o'f an ink carrier aggregate.

AEs shownin Figs. 1 and"2, the ink pad consists 'o'fa bottom part a, a framelb mounted thereon and a lidc pi ovided inkriown'manne'r witha handle efor opening the lid.

According to Fig. 3, the lids is attached-by eyes "d formed on "the' holder frame; ahinge r 'oll-n"-, formed on the"-lid=in knownmanner anda kriownhirige pin oi Figs. 4' to- 6 show anotlier manner nf-attaching the lid In thiweonst'i'uctio'n the bottompirt 'wis provided with hinge liigs -kwhich pas's throug'h slots' l-in the-holder frame 5 alidi ilitr the hold'er 'ha's been placed on the" bot- It might, however, be mounted on.

tom part a, are bent to form hinge rolls m which with the hinge roll 11 on the lid 0 and hinge pin 0 form the hinge.

Fig. 3 shows the manner in which the holder frame I) is attached to the bottom rpart'agin that the under side of the holder frame b has a U-shaped section which is slipped over the edge of the bottom part a and sits tightly thereon. In Fig. Tahothe'rmethod of attachment is shown wherein the boft'omzpart a has a resilient lugp which is bent inwards in such a manner that, when the holder frame [2 is placed on the bottom part a, thislug resiliently engages in the U-section on the under side of the holder frame and thus holds the-holder frame 12 firmlyin position on the bottom .part a. p

As can be seenfr'orn Figs. 3, 5, 6'a'nd 7,th'e holder frame b extends inwards so far that the useful surface of the ink pad lies above the level of the bottom surface of the bottom part a so that the :pad itself cannot possibly tip if the, stamp is placed on the extreme edge of the inking surface. 7

The ink pad proper, as shown in Figs. 3 and 5, consists of an ink carrier {and a fabric'cover i stretched over the ink carrier f. Inthe construction illustrated in Fig. 3, the ink carrier 1 is composed offelt or some other suitable material embedded in a dish g of cardboard im pregnated with plastic and in turn resting in known manner on' a support of wood, pasteboard or the like. The fabric cover i extends downwards between the frame b and the dish g a'nd'is stuck on to the inner side of the holder frame b. This prevents the ink from oozing into the bottom part a.

Should it be desired to take greater precautions to prevent the ink from oozing into the bottom part a and the corrosion resulting therefrom, the arrangement shown in- Fig. 5 .may be selected. Instead of the dish made of cardboard steeped in plastic, a thermoplastic foil i is placed between the ink carrier f and the block h. The boundary zones of the fabric cover 1' are then firmly connected with the boundary zones of the foil 'r and of't'he supporting block h by the application of heat, taking advantage of the thermoplastic properties of the foil. The arrangement should preferably be in the form shown in Fig. 3,whe'rein the-supporting block 11, thermoplastic foil r'an'd fabric cover i extend on all sides beyond the ink carrier 1 and the supporting block 11 is of such height that, when the holder frame b has been pressed into position, its lower-inner edge presses the boundary zone of the fabric cover 1', rigidly connected to the thermoplastic f'oil r, tightly on to the-supporting block h. In'this manner the ink in the ink carrier fis -reliably seale'ddff so that it cannot penetrate into the bottom part a of the ink p'ad.

To anticipate the possibility that ink might ooze into "the bottom'par'ta along the patlrextending ovcr the p'ortion-of the fabric cover i bearing-against the innerside of the frame 12' between the low'er inner edge of the fram'e'b and through 'the boundary zone of thef'abric cover i firmly connected to the foil 'r and the supporting blockfh, the

'thremoplasticfoil r-ma'y be made'so much larger than the base surface of "theb'ottom' parta'th'at, when the assembled ink carrier is inserted in'flthe bottom part, it will be bent upwardson'the wall thereof. Thus a kind of trough ordish-is formed, the upwardly extending edge s of which is. formed by the extreme zones ofgthe foil r and the cover 'Should ink enter the dish,-it in any case will remain therein.

1 In the form'si'of'oh's'triiction of the ink carrier aggregate sl'id'wii i F'g's."8 and' 9,'theink car'rierff carrying thefabric cover c'd tiri'the block 'h without any intervening layer "of" sulati'ng material and the block it islpla'cc d "on a: thermoplastic foil r. Irfthe construction shown in Fig. 8 'thefoil r is bent upwards at the edges and its boundary zones are firmly connected by heating with the boundary zones of the fabric cover i extending over the block h. In the form of construction illustrated in Fig. 9 the foil r and fabric cover i are of such size that the boundary zones, also firmly interconnected by heating, form a holder frame projecting beyond the inking surface of the pad, which frame can be used in a similar manner to the edge in the construction shown in Fig. 5, when this edge will then rest directly on the bottom of the ink pad box and be bent up on the side wall thereof.

We claim:

1. An ink pad comprising an integrally formed bottom part, a frame carried on said integrally formed bottom part, and an ink carrier aggregate disposed within said frame holder, at least one eye projecting from said frame holder, a cushion having a fabric cover stretched over said ink carrier aggregate, a block supporting said cushion, a thermoplastic foil material interposed intermediate said cushion and said block, said fabric cover having edge zones firmly connected to said foil and said block, said thermoplastic foil being larger than the base surface of said bottom part when said ink carrier aggregate is inserted in said integrally formed bottom part and is bent upward on the walls of said bottom part so that the fabric cover which is not larger than the foil does not come into contact with the wall of the integrally formed bottom part,

and a lid covering said frame holder and said ink carrier aggregate.

2. An ink pad comprising an integrally formed bottom part, a frame holder carried by said bottom part,.an ink vcarrier aggregate disposed within said frame holder, a

sheet lid covering said frame holder and said ink carrier aggregate, a cushion having a fabric cover stretched over said ink carrier aggregate, a block supporting said cushion, a thermoplastic foil material interposed intermediate said cushion and said block, edge zones of said fabric cover and edge zones of said foil being firmly fused to each other, said fused edge zones forming a holding edge of such width that when the ink carrier aggregate is placed in the integrally formed bottom part of the ink pad, the border bends upward on the wall of the bottom part so that the fabric cover, the size of which is not greater than that of the foil does not come into contact with the walls of the bottom part.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,796,137 Baumgar-ten Mar. 10, 1931 1,8l5,371 Edgarton July 21, 1931 2,708,645 Norman May 17, 1955 

